To enhance the safety of conveyance of dangerous goods within the waters of Hong Kong, local vessels are required to notify the Director of Marine (DM) of the specified details of the voyage and dangerous goods before every voyage on which dangerous goods are carried on board, according to the following requirements with effect from 1 July 2012:

For each voyage, the owner or agent of the vessel shall, not less than 24 hours before dangerous goods are to be carried on board, notify the DM of the specified voyage and dangerous goods information in the Notification Form through the Electronic Business System (eBS) of the Marine Department (MD), e-mail or fax. If, for any reasonable cause, it is not possible to notify the DM in the aforesaid time, the notification shall be made as soon as possible before the commencement of the voyage. Under exceptional circumstances where the telephone is the only available means of communication, a provisional notification may be made to the Dangerous Goods Unit (the "DGU") of the MD (telephone recording system in operation outside office hours) by telephone at 2852 4913. The provisional notification shall be followed by a proper notification in the Notification Form as soon as possible afterwards through the eBS, e-mail or fax;

Notification of any amendments to the original notification shall be made in Amendments to Notification Form in the above-mentioned manner; and

Successful submission of the prescribed forms through the eBS will be confirmed instantly online. For notifications made by e-mail or fax, the record of the relevant e-mails or faxes will be taken as proof of notification. For provisional notifications made through the telephone recording system, the relevant telephone recordings kept by the DGU will be taken as proof of the notification.